In addition, you can sprint by double-tapping and holding the W key. You can also press the E key to grapple enemies, from which you can either perform several weak attacks (left mouse button) or finish off your foe with a spectacular strong attack (right mouse button). You can press the R key to perform a quick kick or stomp that will stun some enemies (particularly short foes, like giant spiders, which can be stomped underfoot), and you can press the F key to aim and launch whichever projectile you have equipped, whether that be a javelin or the nearest barrel or shattered pillar you just picked up. If an object looks like you can smash it and/or pick it up, you can probably do both to it in Vindictus. We picked up boulders, shattered chunks of wooden barricades, and huge ceramic urns, among other things, in our time with the game. We either smashed them over the heads of nearby foes or used the F key to aim a throwing trajectory.

The instance we played through was the stony gnoll lair we had previously seen at the Game Developers Conference, and while the lower-level foes (mostly small gnolls and giant spiders) didn't present much of a challenge, the huge, red-furred gnoll chieftain was an entirely different matter. The chieftain required a lot of time, patience, and some serious mouse-clicking to eventually bring down. This boss monster wielded a huge club and had numerous long-range melee attacks that dealt heavy damage and often stunned us briefly or knocked us off our feet (again, leaving us vulnerable). At several points, we were given an onscreen warning that our character's health was low and that drinking a health potion (bound to our "1" key) would be in our best interests, but not even this was a guaranteed way to recover. One of the other perks of having the Source engine power Vindictus is that if you move while drinking a potion, you'll actually spill most of the concoction all over the front of your armor, so you must remain perfectly still, which is easier said than done when you have a giant, angry gnoll charging right at you.